God and Ronald Reagan

A spiritual life
By Paul Kengor

I have a good friend at my church who reads as much or more than I do. She is a Christian in every sense of the word. Her first name is Ausma. She handed this book to me to read with the admonition that she knew I had been disillusioned by the policies of Reagan when he was president. She wanted me to understand the depth of his Christianity. This book clearly states the truth of her thinking.
It doesn’t change my thinking in regards to legislation passed during his years in office. I won’t take your time now by listing them. There were many that have led to the disasters we are living with today. Be that as it may, this book opened my eyes to the essential goodness of this man and his life long belief in Christianity and his resolve to help all peoples everywhere enjoy the freedom to live with their beliefs without fear of persecution as was happening so severely in the Soviet Union and the satellite states under their control.
This book takes us to his childhood with a devout mother and influential clergy who were close to him. He offended the communist elite in Hollywood by railing against that ideology. His greatest success was opening up Russia and to some extent China and allowing religious freedom. Premier Gorbachev must also be given credit. Reagan felt that deep down Gorbachev was a Christian. At any rate Reagan throughout his years in office did everything he could to accomplish this goal. It was of course successful. The Berlin wall did come tumbling down and the Soviet Union was dissolved with the satellite states regaining their rights to function as free countries.
The above was the result but reading the book gave me an insight into the deeply held beliefs he had and how they were developed and nurtured along the way. I now have a much greater understanding of this unique personality who was our president during the perilous cold war years.
I recommend reading to those who enjoy history and believe religion can be a positive influence.